The bread is baking, the roast is cooking, the vegetables are boiling, the temperature in the kitchen is rising … and so is Martha’s temper.
Jesus has arrived with his disciples at the Bethany home of Mary, Martha, and their brother Lazarus. Martha and Mary gave Jesus a big hug and showed him and his disciples into the living room. Martha had excused herself and went back into the kitchen. After a few minutes she noticed that Mary wasn’t in the kitchen with her. She peaked into the living room and was upset to see Mary sitting there at Jesus’ feet, listening to Jesus tell stories.
She finally snaps. She slams her spoon down on the counter and storms out of the kitchen. And who does she lash out at? Not her sister! No. Her guest! The reason for all her preparations. She lashes out at Jesus! She came over to Jesus and said, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her to help me” (Luke 10:40).
Our Hymn of the Day for this week, “One Thing’s Needful” is directly based on the account of Jesus in the home of Mary and Martha.
Verse one: One thing’s needful; Lord, this treasure teach me highly to regard. All else, though it first give pleasure, is a yoke that presses hard. Beneath it the heart is still fretting and striving, no true, lasting happiness ever deriving. This one thing is needful; all others are vain— I count all but loss that I Christ may obtain.
The Lord said to Martha, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but one thing is needed. In fact, Mary has chosen that better part, which will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:41-42). Strong words. Stinging words. But words that reveal much about Martha’s – and our relationship – with the Savior.
There is a lot of Martha in every one of us. We want to serve our Lord so badly. We try to be good parents by getting our kids involved in sports or taking them on vacation. But we get so wrapped up in having fun with them, that we forget that our first responsibility as parents is to bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord (Ephesians 6:4). We try to provide for our families by working long hours and even working overtime so that we can pass on all the things we never had as kids. But we forget that our first priority is to pass on our faith to our children so that we will see them in heaven with us someday. We serve the Lord and our fellow members by being involved in various church and school groups, or serving as leaders of various boards and committees, or volunteering to move furniture in the school or helping out in a classroom. Those things are all great and necessary. But they aren’t as great or as necessary as being in worship to hear God’s Word, or receive his absolution, or taste his Sacrament, or sing his praises.
We wish to serve Jesus, which is great! It is very Martha-like. But Jesus wishes to serve you! Which is what he did for Mary.
Verse two: How were Mary’s thoughts devoted her eternal joy to find as intent each word she noted, at her Savior’s feet reclined! How kindled her heart, how devout was its feeling, while hearing the lessons that Christ was revealing! All earthly concerns she forgot for her Lord and found her contentment in hearing his Word.
It was not Martha’s service that Jesus wanted. It was Martha. Jesus came not to be served but to serve. He came to give, not to get. He came not to be the guest, but to be the Host, to lay down his life as a sacrifice for sinful humanity, to offer himself up for the life of the world, to be the Bread of Life and wine from heaven to bring refreshment, forgiveness, life, and salvation to all. As far as Jesus was concerned, Martha’s house could have been a wreck, she could have laid out cold cuts and sandwich bread, she could have simply offered a loaf of bread and a dried fish. What mattered most to Jesus was that she have communion with him, that she hear his Word.
Mary enjoyed this communion with her Lord as she sat in Bible study with the Son of God in her living room. She forgot the earthly concerns about feeding Jesus and his band of disciples. She was content to have her guests go hungry and her house be a mess – just as long as she could recline at the feet of her Savior and learn from the lips of the Lord.
Verse three: Wisdom’s highest, noblest treasure, Jesus, is revealed in you. Let me find in you my pleasure; make my will and actions true, humility there and simplicity reigning, in paths of true wisdom my steps ever training. If I learn from Jesus this knowledge divine, the blessing of heavenly wisdom is mine.
We need to repent of our busyness. We’ve let many things get ahead of the one needful thing. We’ve let many things get between us and Jesus. The symptoms are all there. Frustration, anger, snapping at each other, complaining, griping, pointing the finger, accusing. When you sense that in yourself, read the symptoms of busyness and hear the words of Jesus, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). Just be quiet for a while and listen. I know it’s hard to do, because we are tuned to being busy. The way of our world is Martha, not Mary. Be about the business of Jesus. Jesus’ business is easy. All it takes is sitting and listening. That’s it. Jesus is here to give to you. He wants to spend time with you. There’s plenty of opportunity to serve, but what good is our service if it simply burns us out on the Lord and on each other?
There are many things to occupy you. But there is only one thing that is needful, necessary, and indispensable. That one thing is sitting at Jesus’ feet. It is listening to him speak to you. It is setting aside everything else in your life and making Jesus your priority. It is not working or vacationing, but it is resting in Jesus. It is not giving to Jesus, but being given to. It is not finding pleasures or spending your treasures. It is enjoying the pleasures of forgiveness and the treasures discovered in God’s Word. That is the one thing needful.